Hi fussion - here's is my interpretation of it. There are a few different opinions on this (as you know), but I think this is super close to - maybe exactly - what he plays.

Playing it as it is written below at the proper volume, up to tempo, and with the proper expression and such, it comes as close to the original as anything I've heard. If you play it as below and record it, play it back and compare it to the recording on Zeppelin IV, I think you'll be very happy with the comparison.

In addition to the notes being pretty correct, I also would say as this is written, it is (imo) how the intro is counted by Bonham and the band. Very simply, it's a four bar intro (in 4/4 time), that comes in on the upbeat of 3 in the first measure - nothing more, nothing less.

What's the "issue" with the bass player (just curious)?

In case the JPG is a little messy to read/print off, here it is as a PDF: